diff --git a/cake/libs/view/view.php b/cake/libs/view/view.php
index ad7600b1f..fd1999e9a 100644
--- a/cake/libs/view/view.php
+++ b/cake/libs/view/view.php
@@ -381,8 +381,13 @@ class View extends Object {
 		}
 
 		if (is_file($file)) {
-			$params = array_merge_recursive($params, $this->loaded);
-			$element = $this->_render($file, array_merge($this->viewVars, $params), $loadHelpers);
+			$vars = array_merge($this->viewVars, $params);
+			foreach ($this->loaded as $name => $helper) {
+				if (!isset($vars[$name])) {
+					$vars[$name] =& $this->loaded[$name];
+				}
+			}
+			$element = $this->_render($file, $vars, $loadHelpers);
 			if (isset($params['cache']) && isset($cacheFile) && isset($expires)) {
 				cache('views' . DS . $cacheFile, $element, $expires);
 			}
diff --git a/cake/tests/cases/libs/view/view.test.php b/cake/tests/cases/libs/view/view.test.php
index 4905cad20..8ffb0837a 100644
--- a/cake/tests/cases/libs/view/view.test.php
+++ b/cake/tests/cases/libs/view/view.test.php
@@ -487,6 +487,24 @@ class ViewTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		$this->assertPattern('/non_existant_element/', $result);
 	}
 
+/**
+ * test that additional element viewVars don't get overwritten with helpers.
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	function testElementParamsDontOverwriteHelpers() {
+		$Controller = new ViewPostsController();
+		$Controller->helpers = array('Form');
+
+		$View = new View($Controller);
+		$result = $View->element('type_check', array('form' => 'string'), true);
+		$this->assertEqual('string', $result);
+
+		$View->set('form', 'string');
+		$result = $View->element('type_check', array(), true);
+		$this->assertEqual('string', $result);
+	}
+
 /**
  * testElementCacheHelperNoCache method
  *
diff --git a/cake/tests/test_app/views/elements/type_check.ctp b/cake/tests/test_app/views/elements/type_check.ctp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a863c2b48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cake/tests/test_app/views/elements/type_check.ctp
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<?php echo gettype($form); ?>
\ No newline at end of file